PatrickPretty.com

Category: Writing And Branding

  • Certain International Zeek Members Due Distribution From Receiver Eligible To Receive Wire Transfer — But There Are Restrictions

    In a May 6 announcement, Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell shares important news with international Zeek members who have been unable to cash checks from the U.S.-based receivership estate.

    “Many foreign Affiliates have reported that they are unable to deposit or cash their distribution checks due to local banking fees and regulations. We filed a motion with the Court seeking a remedy for this problem so that all Affiliates, could receive their distributions,” Bell wrote.

    “On April 27, 2016, the Court entered an Order that permits the Receiver to pay certain foreign Affiliates by wire transfer in US Dollars. I sought this relief because various foreign Affiliates that were eligible to receive distributions contacted me to alert me to the fact that they were unable to cash the physical checks denominated in US Dollars that they had received. This relief will allow me to pay those foreign Affiliates who complied with the Court mandated process, but were otherwise unable to recover on account of their Allowed Claim because of their location.

    “If you are eligible to receive your distribution by wire transfer, my team will be sending you an email explaining how you may exercise the option to receive your distribution by wire transfer,” Bell continued. “However, if you are eligible to receive your distribution by wire transfer and you choose to do so, all of the fees and costs associated with the payment of the wire will be deducted from your Distribution (including without limitation the fees and costs associated with the sending of the wire by the estate, the receiving of the wire transfer by your bank, any currency conversion fee associated with converting the wire transfer from US Dollars to your local currency, any bank charges, and any canceled check fees incurred on account of any uncashed check which was previously issued to you. In addition, you agree to pay any costs associated with canceling uncashed checks previously issued to you). If you request a wire transfer and it is determined that the cost of the transfer will be greater than your Distribution, your Distribution will be sent by check.

    “In order to receive the wire transfer, you must submit all of the requested banking information via the Claim Portal. You must also give the estate a release in regard to any misdirected wire transfer caused by the entry of any incorrect banking information.

    “Wire payments will follow the same schedule as check Distributions and will not be made until the Release and OFAC have been submitted,” Bell wrote.

    Bell also announced that he will ask Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen “this summer” for an order against more than 9,000 alleged Zeek winners sued in a class-action case for the return of their winnings.

    “We remain confident of success in that litigation, and that it will result in the collection of tens of millions of dollars for distribution to qualified claimants,” Bell wrote.

    The receiver also expressed hope that litigation against Payza, Payment World and Victoria Bank will conclude this summer and result in a recovery for the estate. (See Feb. 21, 2016, PP Blog Special Report that questions whether some of the Zeek money ended up in one or more collapsed Russian Banks after being transferred from Moldova.)

    “The bottom line is that we expect additional recovery of tens of millions of dollars for distribution in this year or next,” Bell wrote. “I’m sorry I can’t be more precise; litigation is slow and uncertain. You now know as much as I do.”

    Read Bell’s full statement, dated May 6, 2016, on the receivership website.




  • After FBI Probe, Ju Ding Inc. (Juding) Exposed As Ponzi, Feds Say; Wenxing Huang Arrested

    From Twitter.
    From Twitter.

    A fraudster who used “fancy cars and parties” to dupe investors has been arrested after an FBI investigation, said Eileen M. Decker, the top federal prosecutor in the Central District of California.

    Wenxing Huang, 33, of San Gabriel, has been charged with money-laundering and wire fraud in an alleged Ponzi scheme that gathered at least $6.9 million. He operated a Brea-based entity known as Ju Ding Inc. Huang also is known as “Di Peng” and “Fatty,” prosecutors said.

    At one point, Huang “orchestrated a Ju Ding holiday party . . . at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in which luxury items, including a Mercedes-Benz automobile were raffled off,” prosecutors said.

    “Records from the facility show that the event for 2,000 people cost more than $180,000,” prosecutors said.

    Ju Ding Inc. was known simply as “Juding” on Ponzi boards such as MoneyMakerGroup. The “program” also had a presence on social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The scheme, prosecutors said, traded on false promises that investors’ “money would be used to invest in and develop technology based on graphene, which is a layer of pure carbon that is only one atom thick.”

    In November 2013, BehindMLM.com reported it had observed potential links between Juding and WCM777, a scam exposed by state regulators and the SEC in 2014. WCM777 purported to be in the cloud-computing business.

    A news release yesterday from Decker’s office on the Juding scheme did not reference WCM777, although the U.S. government is believed still to be investigating that “program.”

    From a statement by Decker’s office (italics added):

    As part of the scheme, Huang allegedly offered compensation to investors who recruited others, according to the complaint, which alleges that many investors received little, if any, return on their investments. However, approximately $2.2 million appears to have been returned to clients in what were essentially Ponzi payments.

    Huang is charged with money laundering for allegedly using approximately $1.2 million in investor funds to purchase the Diamond Bar home, which has since been sold.

     

  • TelexFree’s Sann Rodrigues Pushing ‘WowApp’ For ‘Every Day Gains,’ Promo Says

    Accused securities and immigration fraudsters Sann Rodrigues of TelexFree now is pushing WowApp, according to this promo.
    Accused securities and immigration fraudster Sann Rodrigues of TelexFree now is pushing WowApp, according to this promo.

    2ND UPDATE 2:22 P.M. EDT U.S.A. “WowApp,” which has a Facebook page that thanks the “deaf community” for joining, now is being pushed by TelexFree figure and alleged immigration fraudster Sann Rodrigues, according to a web promo.

    WowApp says it is a communications platform. It further says it is based in Hong Kong and urges members to “Use your WowCoins to contribute to a cause of your choice or cash them out.”

    WowCoins purportedly have a value of 1 U.S. cent.

    A post pitching WowApp on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum claims “You Can Cashout To Paypal,BankWire Or CC / Donate To 2000 Charities In 110 Countries!”

    “CEO Thomas C. Knobel Founder Nobel (company) Released WOWAPP!” the Oct. 30, 2015, MoneyMakerGroup post says.

    WowApp is part of YouWowMe Limited of Hong Kong, according to its website.

    From the WowApp Terms and Conditions (italics added):

    In an effort to earn your loyalty and repeat business, YouWowMe offers you a 10% reward back (“Self-Earnings”) on all of your paid calls using the Service. Immediately following completion of each paid call, the Self-Earnings are credited to your WowApp Account as “WowCoins”, our own special currency. Starting from 100 Wow’s (or its equivalent $1.00), you may use Self-Earnings which are credited to your YouWowMe Account to place additional paid calls. Because you have this option of using your “WowCoins” to make future paid calls using WowApp, for which you will receive an additional 10% reward, our maximum reward for these call offering is 11.11% (“max self-earnings”).

    Translated by Google Translate from Portuguese to English, The WowApp promo credited to Rodrigues reads, “It’s free. It is simple and gives every day gains! This application works better than whatapp and the coolest is that it generates every day gains. I believe this is the future. Free things that generate in earnings. USE EVERY DAY!”

    Rodrigues has a history of hitching his wagon to “programs” that pitch communications devices.

    The SEC, which charged Rodrigues with securities fraud  in the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid case in 2014 and later linked him to alleged DFRF Enterprises Ponzi-schemer Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho,  did not respond immediately to a request for comment. (Update 2:04 p.m. The SEC declined to comment.)

    Rodrigues also is charged criminally in a separate case that alleges he engaged in visa fraud to enter the United States from his native Brazil.

    NOTE: Our thanks to a reader.




  • At Least 24 International TelexFree ‘Winners’ Allegedly Received More Than $1 Million Each

    newtelexfreelogoOn April 20, the PP Blog reported that TelexFree Trustee Stephen B. Darr had proposed to add dozens of U.S. defendants to a class-action lawsuit that seeks the return of gains from alleged “winners” in the judicially declared Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    Filings docketed on April 22 show that Darr also is seeking to add defendants to a class-action case against alleged international winners. Among other things, the filings show that at least 24 alleged TelexFree winners from outside the United States received at least $1 million each. Scores of others also allegedly received large sums of less than $1 million.

    At least 10 people, for instance, allegedly received more than $900,000 each, but less than $1 million.

    Residents of Portugal, China, Spain, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, United Kingdom, Canada, Peru and Ecuador are referenced on the list of alleged international winners.

    As the PP Blog reported in January 2016, the class-actions could affect tens of thousands of alleged winners globally because the named winners effectively are stand-ins for unnamed ones. Rulings against the named winners could apply to the entire defendant class of about 93,000 individuals alleged to have received more from TelexFree than they paid in.

    Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be TelexFree losers.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is actively involved in the criminal prosecutions of TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler, alleged by the United States to be an international fugitive.




  • CKB168 CASE: 2 Promoters Plead Guilty To Criminal Counts; 3 Others Face Trial

    recommendedreading1Two U.S.-based promoters of the noxious CKB168 cross-border pyramid scheme aimed at Chinese-Americans have pleaded guilty to wire-fraud, the office of U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California said.

    The SEC sued Cheong Wha “Heywood” Chang, 48, and his wife, Toni Chen, 47, in 2013. Federal prosecutors later charged them criminally, alleging they duped people into investing in a “Profit Reward Points” scam and then tried to obstruct the SEC investigation.

    Both reside in Hacienda Heights, Calif.

    “These defendants defrauded investors out of millions of dollars, and then they attempted to obstruct justice when the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit,” Decker said. “The fraudulent conduct in this case has harmed many people, both in the United States and abroad.”

    The FBI handled the criminal probe.

    Various investment schemes with apparent footprints in Hong Kong have been pushed by online hucksters since the SEC moved against U.S. based Zeek Rewards in 2012. The agency said CKB and related entities purportedly sold children’s educational courses.

    What the purported opportunity really sold was the “false promise of easy wealth,” the SEC said in 2014.

    “Potential purchasers of CKB products must invest in CKB to get one of its courses,” the SEC said. “Defendants promise that those investors will earn exponential, risk-free returns. In addition to the course, each purchaser/investor receives “Profit Reward Points” (“Prpts”) with a purported value of $750.”

    From Decker’s office (italics added):

    Chang and Chen each admitted that made false statements to investors, including: CKB was a successful and profitable business; with each investment of $1,380, an investor would receive “Profit Reward Points” (PRPTs) that were worth $750 and could be exchanged for money; PRPTs would increase in value as a passive investment, even if investors did not actively recruit new investors to CKB or sell CKB courses; and PRPTs were analogous to, or could be converted into, pre-IPO or future shares of CKB that would increase greatly in value when CKB went public. These statements to investors were false.

    Also facing criminal charges of conspiracy and wire fraud from the SEC case are Wen Chen “Wendy” Lee, Daliang “David” Guo and Chih Hsuan “Kiki” Lin. They are scheduled to go on trial before U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer in November, Decker’s office said.

    Fischer has set a February 2017 sentencing date for Chang and Chen.

    The SEC alleged that Guo was atop the pyramid.

    In 2014, the CKB prosecution and other pyramid-scheme cases made the SEC’s highlight reel.




  • Payza Reports Web Outage

    This message was on the Payza website on April 25, 2016.
    This message was on the Payza website on April 25, 2016.

    Payza, an HYIP-friendly payment processor currently under fire from the receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case, is reporting on Twitter that it is experiencing a web outage.

    At the time of this PP Blog post, the outage appears to be more than four hours old. A post with no timestamp at the Payza Blog says the processor expects “everything to be back to normal within 18 hours. You may experience some interruptions and connection errors until that time on our website, member’s area, and Customer Support Pages.”

    Members of the Traffic Monsoon “program” are complaining on Facebook about the outage. Traffic Monsoon is a purported “advertising” venture reportedly served by Payza and shut off by PayPal.

    “Hello, what is going on with PAYZA?” one Monsooner asked. “I can’t get to the site and therefore I cannot buy more adpacks with the money I have on the account.”

    Another Monsooner ventured. “I saw other people have the same problem than me. Paya acknowledged they have problems but don’t say what kind of problems. Isn’t this worrying? First Paypal, now Payza, and still no news of the bank in Dubai.”

    The PP Blog observed a message from Incapsula when it tried to load Payza’s website.

    “You’ve requested a page that currently is on the Incapsula network,” the message read. “Incapsula was unable to connect to the server.”

    Incapsula provides DDoS protection. Whether a DDoS attack was responsible for the Payza outage was unclear.

    More may be known later this month on an investigation involving Payza and the Obopay payment processor by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

    UPDATE 4:23 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Payza says on Twitter that “Our website is back up and running smoothly, thank you for your patience.”




  • SEC, Trustee, Defense Attorneys Mum On Possible Deeper Ties Between TelexFree And DFRF Schemes

    Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho in a YouTube promo for the alleged DFRF Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.
    Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho in a YouTube promo for the alleged DFRF Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    The SEC declined Friday to say whether two individuals named prospective defendants in a massive class-action lawsuit brought by the Trustee in the 2014 TelexFree bankruptcy case were the same two persons charged with securities fraud last year by the agency in the DFRF Enterprises/Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case.

    On June 30, 2015, Gaspar C. Jesus, 54, of Malden, Mass., and Eduardo N. Da Silva, 40, of Orlando, Fla., were among the nine named civil defendants in the DFRF/Filho case. Jesus allegedly received $56,000 from DFRF; Da Silva allegedly received $221,000.

    Filho, also charged criminally, “orchestrated” the DFRF scheme with the “assistance” of Jesus, Da Silva and others, the SEC alleged at the time. The agency also has referred to Da Silva as simply “Silva.”

    Promoters who move from one online investment fraud scheme to another and help scammers grease HYIP Ponzi wheels have posed a longtime problem. Both TelexFree and DFRF largely were aimed at Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking communities, the SEC has alleged.

    And that’s not all they had in common. Investors in both MLM-style “programs,” according to court filings, sometimes paid their sponsors directly, rather than paying the companies.

    “The amount of checks and cash that the individual defendants collected directly from investors is currently unknown,” the agency said about DFRF and how money entered the system last year.

    Such mechanics can led to secret deal-making and the siphoning of funds by insiders, creating smaller frauds inside of larger ones.

    On April 4, 2016, TelexFree Trustee Stephen B. Darr asked Chief Bankruptcy Judge Melvin S. Hoffman for permission to amend a defendant class-action case to include dozens of additional defendants alleged to be “winners” in the scheme.

    Among the proposed additional defendants were “Gaspar Jesus” of Lynn, Mass., and “Eduardo N. Silva” of Orlando, Fla.

    As noted above, the SEC declined to say whether the individuals were the same ones named in the DFRF/Filho case.

    Jonathan Shapiro, a Boston defense attorney representing Gaspar C. Jesus in the DFRF/Filho case, said on Friday he “cannot confirm that the person named in the [TelexFree] bankruptcy matter is the same person I represent in the DFRF matter.”

    On Saturday, Martin R. Rosenthal, a Boston attorney representing Eduardo N. Da Silva in the DFRF/Filho case, said he had “no comment” on whether his client was the same individual named in the Trustee’s proposed amended class action.

    Darr has alleged Eduardo N. Silva received more than $2.4 million from TelexFree. Gaspar Jesus was alleged by Darr to have received $882,936. The Trustee did not return a request for comment on whether the individuals were the same ones named in the SEC’s fraud case against DFRF and Filho.

    The SEC previously tied DFRF/Filho to TelexFree defendant Sann Rodrigues.

    Both DFRF and TelexFree spread in part on YouTube.

    The surname “Filho” also is referenced among the alleged “winners” in Darr’s proposed amended class action, though not specifically Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho.

  • Faith Sloan’s Alleged TelexFree Haul: $710,319

    newtelexfreelogoUPDATED 3:32 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Faith Sloan received $710,319 from the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, according to filings by TelexFree bankruptcy Trustee Stephen B. Darr.

    Sloan, whose address was listed as Virginia Beach, Va., is a longtime Illinois HYIP huckster on Ponzi boards and social media. She and three other TelexFree promoters were charged in April 2014 with securities fraud by the SEC. The state of Illinois later barred her from the securities industry and warned her that violating the ban could result in a felony charge.

    Her alleged TelexFree haul was not known at the time.

    Darr, who has been investigating TelexFree for nearly two years, now wants to add Sloan and dozens of other alleged major winners as named defendants in a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in February that would return the winnings to the bankruptcy estate. Another proposed defendant is Randy Crosby, charged alongside Sloan by the SEC two years ago. His alleged haul, according to Darr, was $487,621.

    An individual identified as Sonya Crosby at the same address received $541,450, according to Darr. She, too, has been named a proposed defendant in the class action.

    As of April 4, no adequate class representative had been found, Darr advised Chief Bankruptcy Judge Melvin S. Hoffman of the District of Massachusetts.

    Sloan previously had complained that the SEC was picking on her, given that others in TelexFree had received more from the scheme and were not charged by the agency. As investigations evolve, however, the SEC sometimes files amended complaints or brings individual actions against defendants not charged out of the gate.

    Such as the case with HYIP huckster Matthew John Gagnon in 2010. He also was sued by a court-appointed receiver and charged criminally by the U.S. Secret Service.

    Alleged Zeek Rewards’ winner Trudy Gilmond wasn’t originally charged by the SEC. But as the probe continued, Gilmond was sued by both the agency and the receiver.

    Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell has expressed concerns about promoters moving from one fraud scheme to another. In March, SEC Enforcement Director Andrew Ceresney commented on the “whack-a-mole” nature of online pyramid schemes.

    Sloan has not been charged criminally. On the civil side, she is defending against the action filed by the SEC and also is named a defendant in multiple TelexFree fraud actions brought by private plaintiffs. If Hoffman approves Darr’s motion to file an amended complaint naming Sloan a “winner,” it would open a new litigation front against her.

    It is unclear if the SEC will name any additional TelexFree defendants.

    Darr’s motion to amend the complaint to include Sloan and additional defendants is available on the Trustee’s website. The proposed complaint is included as Exhibit A.



  • Banners Broker Figure May Be Using ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Tactics On Canadian Court Officials

    From a purported "Cease and Desist" order by Banners Broker figure Rajiv Dixit.
    From a purported “Cease and Desist” order by Banners Broker figure Rajiv Dixit. Red highlights by PP Blog.

    Remember when Simon Stepsys — now with the cross-border MyAdvertisingPays scheme — was pushing the uber-bizarre Banners Broker cross-border scheme?

    New court filings in Canada by the receiver and liquidators in the Banners Broker case now estimate the total haul of the alleged double-your-money pyramid scam at more than $156 million. That’s up from an earlier estimate by Toronto police of $93 million. If the $156 million figure proves correct, it would make Banners Broker a bigger fraud than the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008.

    Like MAPS, which currently is operating, ASD and Banners Broker purported to be “advertising” companies. The ASD case threw down the gauntlet on securities companies trying to evade the law by pretending to be “advertising” firms.

    But the apparent upstaging of ASD by Banners Broker in dollar volume in the purported “advertising” trade is not the only news.

    Rajiv Dixit, one of the Banners Broker figures who helped put Stepsys in the position of getting rich from online fraud schemes, was arrested in Canada in December 2015.

    Filings April 4 by the receiver and liquidators in the case show that Dixit may be trying to use “sovereign citizen” courtroom tactics against them in Canadian proceedings. In the United States, AdSurfDaily figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming tried the same thing in that case.

    The Banners Broker receiver and liquidators have reported Dixit’s alleged activities to the court.

    Specifically, they say Dixit, who calls himself  “the man master rajiv of the family dixit” [sic] and his targets “interlopers,” is trying to foist a bogus “Cease and Desist” order on them that threatens a fine of $36 per second if they don’t back off from their judicially mandated duties. Dixit apparently wants to be paid in “silver dollars.”

    From the receiver/liquidators (italics added):

    The Cease and Desist Notices go on to state that if the Court Officers and their counsel do not cease and desist “all actions and claims against Mr. Rajiv Dixit and or Rajiv Dixit forthwith” Dixit will invoice them $47,304,000.00 silver dollars “[p]lus, for each second starting at 12:00:01 AM until the cease and desist is complied with, each Respondent will be charged an additional $36.000 per second.”

    Leaming, a “sovereign citizen” now in a U.S. federal prison in part for harassing officials who played a role in the ASD case, once sent a bill demanding payment of 208,000 ounces of “99.9% fine silver” from a judge.

    Court filings in other cross-border cases — including Zeek Rewards and DFRF Enterprises — have signaled that “sovereigns” also were involved in those schemes.

    With Banners Broker, Dixit called his affiliates “stupid,” according to the new filings by the receiver and liquidators.

    Visit the RealScam.com antiscam forum to read the filings.




  • MyAdvertisingPays Incorporated In Jurisdiction Mentioned Prominently In ‘Panama Papers’; Its Payment Vendor Lists Individuals Referenced In At Least 2 Spectacular Fraud Schemes

    recommendedreading1 (1)8TH UPDATE 11:53 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Before we get to the news that a federal judge took only a day to dismiss an April 6 libel lawsuit filed by the MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) scheme and operator Michael E. Deese against the TaraTalks Blog, we’ll note that the 16-page complaint confirms that MAPS is incorporated in Anguilla.

    Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is not illegal to incorporate offshore, but some schemes do so to avoid taxes or to engage in money-laundering and other crimes. There has been a longstanding concern that narcotics traffickers and even terrorists are using corporate shells to hide a criminal agenda.

    Class-action attorneys in the United States pursuing claims in the massive TelexFree fraud scheme operating from Brazil, the United States and other countries have called MAPS a Ponzi scheme and promoter Simon Stepsys a “Ponzi mogul.”

    Only days before the filing of the MAPS lawsuit and nearly instant dismissal, news of the “Panama Papers” and a giant leak to reporters broke through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Anguilla was mentioned prominently as a tax haven. MAPS, originally incorporated in Mississippi, has been touting its Anguilla connection for months.

    MAPS, for two years, also has been touting its relationship with an e-wallet vendor known as VX Gateway that operates out of Panama. Here’s where things really get interesting.

    VX lists Roger Alberto Santamaria del Cid as a “subscriber.” Del Cid’s name has appeared on the PP Blog a couple of times. On Feb. 8, 2011, the Blog reported that his name had appeared in court filings in a federal forfeiture case involving assets linked to the notorious EMG/Finanzas Forex scheme in the Middle District of Florida. (See Paragraph 10 of this affidavit by a Task Force investigator.)

    Money from EMG/Finanzas was linked to the international narcotics trade. OpenCorporates lists del Cid here as a Finanzas “subscriber.” The site lists Tatiana Itzel Saldaöa Escobar as another Finanzas subscriber, and the same name appears alongside Del Cid as a VX subscriber.

    As the PP Blog reported on Feb. 10, 2011, del Cid’s name also had appeared as the contact person for Perfect Money, another financial vendor purportedly operating from Panama. The SEC has linked Perfect Money to the incredibly toxic Imperia Invest IBC offshore scheme that targeted thousands of people with hearing impairments.

    Del Cid apparently works as a nominee director of offshore companies with ties to Panama. (See April 7, 2013 story that mentions his name on the website of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: “Faux Corporate Directors Stand in for Fraudsters, Despots and Spies.”

    With American lawyers calling MAPS a Ponzi scheme and with MAPS having promoters in common with TelexFree and the alleged Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, MAPS went to federal court in Illinois to sue TaraTalks, a longtime critic of the scheme. The complaint is posted at the RealScam.com antiscam forum.

    The judge tossed the complaint in 24 hours, finding the court did not have jurisdiction, according to BehindMLM.com, another MAPS critic.

    TaraTalks, which calls MAPS a Ponzi scheme, operates on Google’s Blogger platform, but MAPS apparently can’t pin down the precise location. Nor can MAPS identify the author of TaraTalks and the author’s location. All three things are important for establishing diversity jurisdiction.

    But the complaint may have another jurisdiction issue. Although it says plaintiff Deese lives in “Harrison County, Louisiana,” no such place exists. Louisiana does not have counties; it has parishes, and there is no Harrison Parish.

    Whether MAPS is under investigation by any U.S. government agencies is unknown. Similar schemes have led to prosecutions, and references by class-action attorneys to MAPS potentially put it on the U.S. radar.




  • ‘Pay It Forward’ Gifting Scheme Leads To Felony Racketeering Charge, Sparks Child-Porn Probe In Michigan

    payitforwardAs the PP Blog reported more than six years ago, Pay It Forward (PIF) “programs” have a noxious history in HYIP and cash-gifting Scamland.

    A new case in Michigan, however, may be off-the-charts in terms of noxiousness. That’s because investigators looking into a PIF scheme there found child pornography on the alleged PIF operator’s computer, the office of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in February.

    Michael Skupin, 54, of Oakland County, was charged with six counts of possession of child sexually abusive materials five counts of larceny by conversion,and one count of Racketeering- Conducting a Criminal Enterprise.

    The PIF “program” was a Ponzi scheme that gobbled up $10,000 at a time from participants, Schuette’s office said.

    Records show that it’s not unusual for Ponzi schemers in Michigan to be charged with racketeering, a 20-year felony.

    “Victims allegedly made $10,000 cash investments in the [Skupin] scheme,” Schuette’s office said. “Their money would then cycle through a chart in which participants were eventually paid out of other new investors’ money.  The scheme was discovered when eventually there were no new investors signing and most people in the scheme lost all of their money.”

    The Oakland Press reported yesterday that Skupin was a former contestant on the “Survivor” television show.

    And, the publication reported, Skupin was accused of violating his release conditions while waiting trial on the charges against him.

    From the Oakland Press (italics added):

    Following his arraignment, the former reality TV contestant posted bond and was under house arrest with conditions that barred him from using the Internet except for work.

    But during a probable cause hearing Friday, April 8, in Clarkston’s 52-2 District Court, Judge Kelley Kostin ordered Skupin jailed because he violated the Internet bond conditions by posting on Facebook.

    Skupin now has made bail for a second time.

    PIF schemes have many price points — from low-dollar sums to high. In some PIF schemes, a recruiter may offer you the money to join a “program” — with the understanding you’ll do the same for your recruits. Some participants will purchase multiple “positions” for friends and family members, only to lose it all.

    Other such schemes may encourage you to purchase second and subsequent “positions” if you get paid — in effect, paying it forward to yourself, so you can get paid again.

    The money-cycling schemes ultimately collapse.